Labeling machine



Dec. 26, 1939. e. M. BINER LABELING MACHINE 1 me P a W m e 1 mm W n w 41B A .b M s 4 ga Z a 6? 7 B, G l m 9 M e m -8M37 5 m F a 3 5 7 G. M.BINER LABELING MACHINE Dec. 26, 1939.

"w Tn R .v 4 WI n G. M. BINER LABELING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledJune 19, 193'? t o 9 a 3: 3 6 0 6 a v e kn m mmw v AG 5 5 mm W u In mmG. M. BINER' LABELING MACHINE Dec. 26, 1939.

Filed June 19, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INYENTOR. Bzner eff o J M am on.HIE 0 a 0 a 0 G HI. I B W .M l 3 8 m w 4)! l m ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 26, 1939 grains iiNiTED STA'lEri i A'i'ENT OFFlQE LABELINGMACHINE George M. Biner, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application June 19, 1937, Serial No. 149,123

14 Claims.

My present invention relates to labeling ma chines and more particularlyto a labeling machine having a minimum of parts and a relatively light,open frame that permits the operator to closely watch every phase of theoperation of the machine. This application is an improvement upon themachine shown. and described in my pending application for patent SerialNo. 131,273, filed March 1'7, 1937, to which reference is made forsubject matter shown but not claimed herein.

An important object of my invention is to provide a machine for themechanical labeling of containers wherein the cost of manufacture isgreatly reduced by the use of a light rectangular frame and the use ofsimple swinging parts. The use of costly cams andassociated parts isheld to a minimum in my machine.

A further object is to provide a holder for labels that is normally outof reach of the picker bars, to avoid having to stop the machine whenthe supply of containers is temporarily exhausted. 7

Another object is to provide an adhesive transfer roll that is held inuniformly close contact with the picker bars during the adhesivetransfer period.

My improved machine provides other objects and advantages due to thenovel combinations and arrangements of parts that will be more fullyapparent in the course of the following description.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts inthe several views.

Figure l is a vertical section on the line I--I of Figure 3.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine taken from the left ofFigure l. I

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of a latch that holds the adhesivetransfer roll in the position shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of themachine with parts broken away.

Figure 6 is a vertical section on the line 6-6 of Figure 3. v

Figure 7 is a vertical section on the line l'l of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a horizontal section on the line 8-8 of Figure .5;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 99 of Figure 3.

Figure 10 is a side elevation, partly bro-ken away, of a grip fingerthat holds the'label against the container.

Figure 11 is a section on the line H--H of Figure 10.

Figure l2isa vertical section taken on the line IZ-lZ of Figure 3.

Figure 13 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Figure 12, lookingin the direction of the arrow A of the latter figure.

Figure 14 is a sectional View on the line hl-i4 of Figure 13.

Figure 15 is a horizontal section taken through ence number I generallydesignates an open rectangular frame made, in the preferred embodiment,of channeliron and comprising vertical corner members 2, 3, 6 and 5, thesame being connected by transverse bars 6 and l and tie rods 8, 9, ill,H and i2. i

A channel bar it extends between corner members 2 and 4 as in Figures 1,2 and 9. The channel I3 is perforated to receive rods 54, (see Figure9), said rods being connected at their upper ends to a bottle supportingplate l5, spaced above the channel by spacers iii. A strap l1 extendsacross the rods M to hold the same in fixed position, after the rodshave been ad justed to support plate H5 at the desired height.

A bolt and nut, l8 and I9, fasten strap I! to channel 13.

A pair of spaced rods 20 and 2|, extend upwardly from plate IE to holdthe bottle Bin labeling position, as in Figure 3; The rods. 26 and 2|are provided with protecting'sleeves 132 and 23, of rubber orothersuitable materiaLto protect the bottle and at the same time leaveits surface uncovered sufficiently for the label to be applied.

A label holder 24- is pivotally supported upon 7 transverse shaft 25 bybearing 26 The label holder (see Figures 1 andl'l), comprises arectangular frame having a transverse bar 21 and angle iron support 28.The label holder is yieldably supported upon the frame members 6 bymeans of coil springs 29 and 36, positioned as shown in Figure 17.

Bar .21 and support 28 are connected adjacent their free ends by' rods3! and 32, said rods having their ends threaded to receive nuts 33. Thespace thus provided is divided by transverse rods 34 having clamps 35adjustably connected to rods SI and 32, and longitudinal rods 36adjustably fastened to rods 64. Upright angle strips 3'1 are adjustablyfastened to the rods 36 and 34 by means of clamps 38.

The label holder 24 is pivotally supported upon bar I by means of an arm39, pivoted to angle iron 28 at 40, said arm having a slot M to receivethe bar I0. The arm 39 is in turn pivotally connected to a depending rod42 which is releasably connected to a foot pedal (not shown). Thus it isseen that springs 29 and 39 normally hold the labels L out of reach ofpicker bars until the foot pedal is operated, making it unnecessary tostop the machine when a new supply of labels is being placed inposition.

The lowermost ends of angle strips 31 are turned in as at 43 to supportlabels L, and the usual weight 44 is placed upon the same.

The modified form of label holder 24' provides an extra compartment 44for neck labels L, by the addition of rods 34' and strips 3? on the rod34' and on the adjacent rod 34. Otherwise the form shown in Figure 1'7is similar to the first described form.

Means are provided to remove the lowermost label from the label holder24, (see Figure 9), the transfer the same to bottle B, by the use ofpicker bars 45, provided with adjustable glue plates 46, and pivotallymounted on shaft 25. Fixed to shaft 25, between the picker bars and theframe parallel to the said bars, are cam bars 41 provided at their freeends with cams 48 for a purpose to be later described.

The glue plates 46 are supplied with glue by means of glue transferroll, 49 carried freely on shaft 50, which is mounted on the free endsof swinging arms said arms are mounted on a shaft 55 which is journalledin bearings 52 above the frame member 6. Shaft 50 is also provided withcam rollers 53 mounted in alinement with cams 48 and adapted, as inFigure 9, to engage the same when a label is being removed from thelabel holder 24.

The transfer roll 49 is held in the position shown in Figure l by meansof latches 54 pivotally connected to frame members 3 and 5, and actuatedby means to he later described.

Aglue pot or glue fountain I55 is mounted between frame members 9 and 5by means of bearings 56 and 5'? in which the shaft 58 is freely mounted.A glue pot roller 59 is mounted on shaft 58, and within glue pot I55, ata point opposite and somewhat higher than the bottle stand I5. Asprocket BI is fixed to one end of shaft 53 and a clutch 62 is providedbetween roller 59 and the sprocket 6|. A brace I63 is mounted on bar II,aids in supporting the glue pot holder I64 which is provided withadjustable bolts I95. A hinged scraper plate I06 is mounted on the gluepot as shown in Figure 9.

In order to hold the label against the bottle after the picker bars havemoved away from same, a grip finger 63 (see Figures 9, 10, 11 and 15) isprovided. The grip finger is freely mounted on shaft 64 by means ofstrap 65 which is given a quarter turn to provide a guide bar for holderplates 69 which are turned in as at 6'! to provide a dove-tail groovefor a strip 68, which is made of rubber or other suitable material. Aspacer bar 69 is riveted between plates 66 and coil springs 79 are setinto alined recesses in bar 69 and strap 65. The plates 66 are yieldablyconnected to straps 65 by means of rivets II extending into slots "I2 ofplates 66. Thus it may be seen that strip 68 is yieldably mounted onstrap 65.

The strap 65 has a bracket lug 13 pivotally connected to link I4 whichis yieldably connected by coil spring I5 to an arm 16 which is fixed toa rocker shaft I7.

As shown in Figure 15, padded fingers I8 are utilized to press the labelagainst the bottle. The pressing fingers I8 swing on opposite sides ofthe grip finger 63, and are preferably made of sponge rubber or thelike. The sponge rubber pads of the fingers I8 are carried by box-likeholders I9 which are yieldably connected by springs 80 and guide pins BIto straps 82. Straps 82 are freely mounted on shaft 64, and are providedwith depending lugs 89 which are pivotally connected to links 84. Thelinks 34 are pivotally connected to arms 85 which are fixed to rockshaft 06.

The grip finger 63 is locked in its raised position (see Figures and bymeans of a latch comprising a pawl 87, fixed to shaft TI and adapted toengage a pivoted arm 88. The arm 88, which is pivoted on frame member 4,is notched as at 89 and held against the pawl 01 by spring 90, carriedby a bearing 9I also on the frame member 4. The arm 88 is released whenengaged by pin 92, carried by a link 93, which is fixed to a shaft 86.

In order to operate the pressing fingers 78 at the proper time, a cam94, (see Figure 7) is freely mounted on a shaft 95, which is supportedby frame bars I. A cam roller 96 is carried by an adjustable arm 9'! ona clamp 98, which is fixed to shaft 86.

The cam 94 is provided with an integral sleeve 99 having formed thereona sprocket 00. The cam shaft 95 is provided at one end with a smallsprocket MI and at its other end with a large sprocket I02.

My improved machine is driven by a motor I93, supported by arms I94fixed to tie rod 9, as in Figure 5. Mounted on frame bar I is a shaftI05 provided with a large sheave I09 adapted to be driven from motor I03by belt I91 at a reduced rate of speed.

The shaft I05 is provided at one end with a small sprocket I08, seeFigure 6, so that a chain I09 may be utilized to drive sprocket I92 anddrive shaft 58 through the intermediary of sprocket 6|. The cam sprocketI00 is connected by chain II 0 to drive sprocket III on shaft 64.

Means for releasing latches 54, see Figure 6, is provided by awalkingbeam I I2 fixedly mounted on shaft 25. One end of the walking beam ispivoted to an arm H3, which is provided with a lost motion slot II4,adapted to receive bolt H5 of a crank I6, fixed to shaft TI.

Fixed to shaft 64 is a crank H! which is pivotally connected to the freeend of walking beam I I2 by a pitman I I8. Short shafts I I9 are mountedon the under side of frame bars 6, adjacent the latches 54, and fixedlysupport a rocker comprising lugs I20. The lugs have perforatedextensions to receive rods I2I which extend through perforations I54 inlatches 54, and plates I22 which are perforated to slidably receive rodI23. Rod I23 is pivoted to lug I24 of the walking beam I I2 and has anadjustable stop I 25 adapted to contact one of the lugs I in order torelease latches 54 by rockingthe lugs I20, thereby lifting rods I2I. Thesprocket IIlI on shaft 95 is connected by chain I26 to large sprocketI2! on shaft 64.

In the operation of my device, the' bottle B or other container isplaced upon the stand l5 and held against uprights 22 and 23, leaving anexposed surface between the same. As shown in Figure 1, the picker bars15 having just picked a label and'have moved into operative positionadjacent the bottle. The picker bars are swung from the position shownin Figure "1 tothat shown in full lines in Figure 9 by the rockingofshaft 25, which is fixed to walking beam H2, the same being actuated bythe pitman H8 and crank I IT. The crank H7 is rotated by shaft M, drivenby sprocket I27 and chain 126 from shaft 85. The shaft 95, see Figure 6,carries sprocket 592, which through chain IE9 is driven from shaft Hi5,and said shaft, see Figure 5, is'driven from motor its by reason of thebelt fill that connects the motor pulley and sheave 565 on the shaft Thenext step in the operation, see Figure 1, is to move the grip fingerstrip 58, see Figure 15, into contact with the label, to hold the sameagainst the bottle. This is done by the rocking of the walking beam 112,which raises arms H3 and M6 to rock shaft Tl in counter-clockwisedirection to swing the grip finger 68 into theposition of Figure 15.

In this position, the grip finger shaft 11 is locked by pawl 81 andlatch 88; see Figures 12, 13 and 14.

The next step is to move pressing fingers 78, see Figure 15, intocontact with the label .to press the latter against the bottle until theglue adheres. Cam 94 carries an integral sprocket 109 which is driven bychain In, see Figure 6,

from shaft M.

Rotation'of cam 94 will actuate roller 96 on arm 9? and rock shaft 85,causing the pressing fingers T8 to be moved against the label as inFigure 15. The mechanism is so timed that the picker arms 52 swing awayfrom the bottle just after the grip finger 63 has grippedthe label,

so as to make room for the pressing fingers.

A coil spring 83 connects arm 82 of thefingers 18 so that when the pin92, of Figures 12 and 14, moves against latch 88 to release the gripfinger, the same will be cushioned by spring 83'. At this time the camwill allow roller96 to drop so that the grip finger and the pressingfingers will retract together and the latch 88 will again be locked. v

' As the picker arms begin to swing back to the label holder 25, it isdesired to provide their face plates 53 with another coating of glue.To1effect this, it is necessary to release glue transfer roll 3.9 fromlatches 56, as in Figures 1 and 6. The rod-123 being connected to beamH2, it is apparent that stop i25 will contact lug to rock shaft H9 andlift rod 121. This action will raise latches 54 and releasethe gluetransfer roll 48, which will swing down into contact with plates 5%, byreason of the energy stored up in spring 128, see Figure 5, fixed to theframe at i233 and to arm.l3t of shaft 55. This movement is dampened by adash-pot mechanism, as follows: at an intermediate'point the rod i3! ispivoted to arm H30 and extends into cylinder I32 where it is providedwith a piston 133. A valve 534 acts as a bleeder. V 7

Thus it may be seen that the glue transfer roller 49 is held againstplates 45 with a steady, uniform pressure while the glue is beingtransferred. Theglue roller 59 is rotated continuously by sprocket iiiand chain 169,, see Figure 6.

While I have described a preferred embodimiliar with the art thatnumerous changes and modifications may be made to adapt the machine tovarious sizes and shapes of bottlesor other containers to be labeled. Ireserve'the right to make all changes permitted within the spirit of myinvention and the scope of the following claims. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to be labeled, means for transferring labels,one at a time, from the one support to the other, an adhesive fountain,a roller, means to move supply of adhesive from the fountain to aposition in which it applies adhesive to the label ment'of my invention,it is obvious to those fa-' transferring means, the transferring meansbe ing arranged to maintain the roller in adhesive obtaining positionwith respect to the fountain -when said transferring means is inposition to obtain a label from the supply of same, and mechanism tooperate the label transferring means and to move the roller from thefountain to apply adhesive to the transferring means prior to theengagement of the next label by the transfer means.

2. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to be labeled, means for transferring labels,one at a time, fromthe one support to the other, an adhesive fountain, aroller, means to move the roller from aposition in which it obtains asupply of adhesive from the fountain to a position in which it appliesadhesive to the label transferring means, a cam. to maintain the rollerin adhesive obtaining position with respect to the fountain when saidmeans is in position to obtain a label from the supply of same, andmechanism to operate the label transferring means and to move the rollerfrom the fountain to apply. adhesive to the transferring means prior tothe engagement of the next label by the transfer means.

v ,3. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to belabeled, pivotally mounted means fortransferring labels from the one support to the other, an adhesivefountain, a roller, means to move the roller from a'position in which itobtains a supply of adhesive from the fountain to a position in which itis in the path of said means when the latter moves from the containersupport to the label support, mechanism to swing said means pivotallyfrom the container supingthe transfermeans from the label supportto thecontainer support, and means to-apply a label to the container.

4. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to be labeled, means for transferring labelsfrom the one support to the other, an adhesive fountain,

' an adhesive transferring element, means to move said element from aposition in which itobtains adhesive from the fountain to a position inwhich it applies adhesive to the label transferring means, spring meanstending to move said ele- 15 the rollerfrom a position in which itobtains a ment from its position in which it obtains adhesive from thefountain to its position in which it applies adhesive to said means,latch means restraining said element from moving to its adhesiveapplying position while said means transfers a label from'the supplythereof to the container support, mechanism to withdraw the latch meansto permit said element under the influence of the spring to move to anadhesive applying position with respect to said means when said means isin its return movement to obtain another label, and mechanism to movethe label transferring means back and forth between the supports.

5. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to be labeled, means for transferring labelsfrom the one support to the other, an adhesive fountain, an adhesivetransferring element, means to move said element from a position inwhich it obtains adhesive from the fountain to a position in which itapplies adhesive to the label transferring means, spring means tendingto move said. element from its position in which it obtains adhesivefrom the fountain to its position in which it applies adhesive to saidmeans, latch means restraining said element from moving to its adhesiveapplying position while said means transfers a label from the supplythereof to the container support, mechanism to withdraw the latch meansto permit said element under the influence of the spring to move to anadhesive applying position with respect to said means when said means isin its return movement to obtain another label, mechanism controllingthe action of the spring during its operation, and mechanism to move thelabel transferring means back and forth between the supports.

6. A labeling machine comprising means to supply labels from a source ofsupply to successive containers, an adhesive fountain, means to transferadhesive from the fountain to the labels successively, said meansincluding a plate to apply adhesive to the labels and a roller totransfer the adhesive from the fountain to the plate, the roller beingmovable from the fountain to roll across the plate, means tending tomove the roller away from the fountain, and releasable means maintainingthe roller at the fountain until the plate is ready to have a freshsupply of adhesive applied thereto.

7. A labeling machine comprising means to supply labels from a source ofsupply to successive containers, an adhesive fountain, means to transferadhesive from the fountain to the labels successively, said meansincluding a plate to apply adhesive to the labels and a roller totransfer the adhesive from the fountain to the plate the roller beingmounted to swing about an axis from the fountain and roll across theplate, the axis of the swinging movement of the roller being above andout of the vertical plane of the part of the fountain engaged by theroller, whereby the roller tends to swing by gravity away from thefountain, and releasable means maintaining the roller at the fountainuntil the plate is ready to have a fresh supply of adhesive appliedthereto.

8. A labeling machine comprising means to supply labels from a source ofsupply to successive containers, an adhesive fountain, means to transferadhesive from the fountain to the labels successively, said meansincluding a plate to apply adhesive to the labels and a roller totransfer the adhesive from the fountain to the plate, means to move theroller from the fountain to the plate, and releasable means maintainingthe roller at the fountain until the plate is ready to have a freshsupply of adhesive applied thereto.

9. A labeling machine comprising means to suplabels from a source ofsupply to successive containers, an adhesive fountain, means to transferadhesive from the fountain to the labels successively, said meansincluding a plate to apply adhesive to the labels and a roller totransfer the adhesive from the fountain to the plate, spring meanstending to move the roller from the fountain to the plate, andreleasable means maintaining the roller at the fountain until the plateis ready to have a fresh supply of adhesive applied thereto.

10. A labeling machine comprising a movable support for a supply oflabels, a support for containers, means to transfer labels successivelyfrom the supply thereof to containers on the support, means to affix tocontainers labels so transferred, said means being mechanicallyconnected for continuous operation, spring means tending to move thesupply of labels away from the sphere of operation of the transfermeans, and mechanism operable by the operator to overcome the springmeans and move the supply of labels to a position in which they may betransferred successively to containers on the support.

11. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to be labeled, means for transferring labelsfrom the one support to the other, an adhesive fountain, an adhesivetransferring element, means to move said element from a position inwhich it obtains adhesive from the fountain to a position in which itapplies adhesive to the label transferring means, mechanism restrainingsaid element from moving to its adhesive applying position while saidfirst-mentioned means transfers a label from the supply thereof to thecontainer support, means to render said restraining mechanismineffective, and means to thereupon move said element to an adhesiveapplying position- With respect to said first-mentioned means in itsreturn movement to obtain another label.

12. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to be labeled, means for transferring labelsfrom the one support to the other, an adhesive fountain, an adhesivetransferring element, means to move said element from a position inwhich it obtains adhesive from the fountain to a position in which itapplies adhesive to the label transferring means, mechanism restrainingsaid elementfrom moving to its adhesive applying position while saidfirst-mentioned means transfers a label from the supply thereof to thecontainer support, means to render said restraining mechanismineffective, and spring means to thereupon move said element to anadhesive applying position with respect to said first-mentioned means inthe latters return movement to obtain another label.

13. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for a container to be labeled, means for transferring labelsfrom the one support to the other, an adhesive fountain, an adhesivetransferring element means to move said element from a position in whichit obtains adhesive from the fountain to a position in which it appliesadhesive to the label transferring means, mechanism restraining saidelement from moving to its adhesive applying position while saidfirst-mentioned means transfers a label from the supply thereof to thecontainer support, means to render said restraining mechanisminefiective, tensioned spring means to thereupon move said element to anadhesive applying position, with respect to said first-mentioned meansin the latters return movement to obtain another label, and means toretard the release of tension in said spring means.

14. A labeling machine comprising a support for a supply of labels, asupport for containers, mechanism to transfer labels successively fromthe supply thereof to containers on the latter support, means to afiixto containers the labels transferred, said mechanism being mechanicallyconnected for continuous operation, means urging said label support toan inoperative position with respect to the removal of labels therefrom,and releasable means to render the label support operative at will.

' GEORGE M. BINER.

